Arsenal had two starboys but Smith Rowe has been left in the shadows – where has it gone wrong?
Two years ago, Emile Smith Rowe was on top of the world, flying for Arsenal and scoring for England. Now, he can not get off the bench under Mikel Arteta. What the hell has happened?
Smith Rowe has been a fan favourite at the Emirates ever since he was given a chance to shine in December 2020 with Arsenal notably lacking a creative spark. One win (at Manchester United) in 10 Premier League matches was an extremely concerning run of form at the time but the club’s hierarchy will be very pleased they trusted Arteta’s #process. Not many did.
Smith Rowe did not exactly save Arteta’s job, even if the manager admitted he “helped shift momentum”, but he instantly changed Arsenal’s fortunes when he came into the side. He assisted against Chelsea on Boxing Day and started 10 games in a row, with the Gunners going unbeaten in the first seven.
After signing a new long-term contract and being handed the No. 10 shirt vacated by Mesut Ozil, the English playmaker had his best season to date, scoring 10 goals in 33 Premier League matches as Arsenal narrowly missed out on a top-four finish.
Fabio Vieira did join in the summer of 2022 and Smith Rowe has had some injury issues, but to see him warming the bench week in, week out is concerning and something no Arsenal fan is happy about.
There is no questioning Smith Rowe’s attitude. He is an extremely humble person who wants nothing more than to succeed at the club he has been at since the age of 10. He and Bukayo Saka were given a chance in the first team under Unai Emery and for a while was arguably on the same level as his fellow Hale Ender until the second half of 2021/22, when his minutes began to decrease. Saka has since elevated his game to another level while his pal picks splinters out of his backside on a weekly basis.
Arteta had a very settled squad last term, with Swiss midfielder Granit Xhaka pushed further up into a box-to-box role, Martin Odegaard thriving as captain next to him and Thomas Partey a little deeper. Smith Rowe played a little over 50 minutes across the Gunners’ opening six league fixtures before undergoing surgery on a niggling groin injury, meaning he did not play again until January.
Xhaka obviously left in the summer, with Declan Rice coming in. As Rice is not a similar profile to Smith Rowe, there was a sliver of hope after a great summer with the Young Lions, but he is yet to play a single minute this season with Kai Havertz and Vieira ahead of him in the pecking order, even if the former is struggling to perform after a surprising big-money summer move from Chelsea.
Vieira has done more in his limited minutes than Havertz as a starter, which means the Portuguese is the player Arteta will turn to if and when he drops the German to the bench. Having taken a massive £60million risk on Havertz, you can guarantee he will be the one Arteta brings off the bench, not Smith Rowe, who did not start a single match last season.
The Havertz signing has perplexed many of the Gunners fanbase and to see Smith Rowe suffer as a result, the German is facing a battle to win over the supporters. Arteta has earned the right to take a risk in the transfer market, however. It is just a shame it has come at the expense of a fan favourite. As a Hale End graduate, the Emirates faithful naturally love Smith Rowe, who does not get the appreciation due to that bias, but because he is a good footballer.
A player who can operate in a number of positions should be a manager’s dream, but when the player is not world class or a game changer in one of the four, five or six options he can play, it can create a headache. This could be the case with Smith Rowe, who naturally likes playing in between the lines, just behind the striker. Saying that, he can play as a false 9, an 8, or on either flank. He has previously admitted that he does not have a “preferred position”.
We do not know what is going on inside Arteta’s head, but looking at the statistics of Havertz – who has already played 123 more minutes this term than the Englishman managed in 22/23 – Vieira and Xhaka, you can see that left-sided central midfielder role is all about being disciplined in and out of possession.
It is quite hard to judge Smith Rowe’s statistics given he played an average of 14 minutes per game last term, but he averaged more shots per 90 (minimum 30 minutes played) than the other three, with the lowest xG while scoring zero goals. Perhaps that easy surrendering of possession frustrated Arteta. Who knows? Xhaka managed seven goals despite attempting less than half the number of shots per game.
Meanwhile, Vieira’s expected assists (xA) was nearly four times what Smith Rowe mustered up. Furthermore, the Portuguese’s passes and carries into the final third, progressive carries and progressive passes and progressive passes received all blew the Englishman out of the water.
Even though Vieira had a difficult debut season, he has clearly taken his chances off the bench better than the Leeds United legend (if you know, you know), so it is not harsh to see the ex-Porto man ahead in the pecking order. The Havertz pill is tougher to swallow but he has to be given time.
Painfully, it looks like Smith Rowe is not able to offer what Arteta wants from his left-sided No. 8. Although every Arsenal fan is rooting for him, there will be an acceptance that the 23-year-old should move on next summer if he does not play enough this season. He is relying on two injuries to get the minutes he wants and having graduated from England’s youth ranks, he will want to get another taste of senior international football having scored in one of his three caps under Gareth Southgate.
Once the perfect fit and a big momentum shifter during Arteta’s most difficult spell in charge, it looks like the Spaniard has moved to players who simply fit his system better. It is a case of wait and see what happens but it is evident that this season will determine Smith Rowe’s future at Arsenal.